Russia: The White House

The White House in Moscow has played a very important role in the contemporary history of Russia. It formerly housed Russia’s parliament…

In August 1991, a group of hard-liners calling themselves the State Emergency Committee isolated Gorbachev at a Black Sea resort, announced that he was ill, and sent armored columns into Moscow. Thousands of protesters took to the streets, manning barricades and rallying around Boris Yeltsin, then president of the Russian republic. The coup collapsed after three days and the Soviet Union fell apart a few months later.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin climbs on a tank and calls on the army, the police and all members of the KGB to switch allegiances.

President Yeltsin addresses tens of thousands of people at a huge rally at the White House.

In September 1993, Yeltsin dissolved Parliament and called for new elections. Vice President Rutskoi and his supporters refused to obey Yeltsin’s orders. On October 2, they constructed barricades and blocked traffic on Moscow’s main streets. On October 3, a mob of parliament supporters stormed the police line around the White House territory and seized the Moscow City Mayor offices. On the morning of October 4, several elite divisions of Russian military forces decided to support Yeltsin. Tanks rolled up to the White House at around 5 am. Firing began at 7 am and the assault continued throughout the day. At 5pm, special troops entered the White House and arrested Rutskoi and several leaders of Parliament.

Russian troops prepare to storm the White House.

The White House after being fired on by Russian tanks.

The White House today

They obviously fixed the damage done by the military

Part of the original 1993 barricade built by pro-Parliament forces (many of whom were from communist or nationalistic parties).

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[…] routine, it was violent and scary like any other changes in Russia (and everywhere in the world). Tanks outside Moscow White House was a pretty persuasive sign of the end of the current regime. Interestingly, Russia has gone […]